The Logs of the TDFS Tindome

Chapter 6: Our First Battle (Part 1)

We work our way carefully to the edge of the clearing, and wait for night. It finally arrives.

Eïr slips undetected (with Stealth and Distraction) into the orc-barracks, and plants the grenades in likely spots. There are orcs around, sleeping, playing dice, whatever. There is one orc, sitting in a chair, who starts looking around uneasily, but never actually looking at Eïr, who scrupulously keeps to the shadows.

Teller passes quietly through the woods and into the other barracks. While he’s in there, an orc wakes up, “Wha-a-? Who’s that? What <unintelligible> is running through here?”

Other orcs, disturbed, shout incomprehensibly (to Teller) back at him, and shy an empty mug at him. A lead orc shouts at everyone, clouting the orc who continues to insist there is a creature creeping about.

Our guys leave their respective barracks, and urge their grenades to “Go boom!” Air explodes with considerable “boom”’s. Eïr races towards the building holding the slaves/prisoners. Mandorek turns on his Second Sight, and Eïr renews her Distraction. The small being slips past several orcs heading past her towards the exploding barracks.

There is one orc sitting by the slave barrages, just watching. Mandorek moves forward and aims his crossbow. The orc shoots his crossbow at Eïr, and wings her. She ducks and hides behind – something. Eric is also running into the chaos. He hesitates, knowing that there’s something dangerous about the barrel in front of him. A giant crossbow bolt smashes into the barrel, sending staves and water flying. Eric is knocked down into the mud.

Bavor lofts a woodworking tool at an orc running towards him. The orc dodges a bit, but he is still goudged on the side of the face. Mando finally lets fly a bolt at the orc who shot Eïr, and the orc collapses on the ground. Eric realizes that that massive arrow must have come from the main building. He looks around for cover, and spots a wagon and a small building. He realizes that he wants to be away from the ground, and so vaults off his staff up onto the roof, just as another giant bolt smashes through the building, skewering the space he had been a second before. He is feeling very conspicuous.

Our companion-bowmen are now shooting orcs. Meanwhile, an orc seems to have spotted Teller. Teller turns and runs away. The orc pounds after him, then bellows in pain. Teller snatches a quick look behind him, and sees that the orc has sprung an arrow.

Mandorak uses his Second Sight to spot where the canon-crossbow is shooting from, but fails. The orc stabbed by Bavör swings his hammer at his putative attacker, and of course completely misses. Bay stabs at the orc’s neck, and connects. The creature goes berserk, and starts swinging wildly with his hammer, actually hitting himself.

Eric jumps down, and zigzags off to one side of the direction the bolts have been coming from, trying to reach cover. The next bolt just misses him, but it knocks him over anyhow. Eïr can see, roughly, the path the bolt must have taken. Teller weaves among some barrels, in hopes of slowing down his pursuer. The orc destroys the first barrel in his path, which is definitely a slow method of pursuit. Arrows tunk into the barrels beside him, and one pins his sleeve to the barrel. He pulls it out. The orc bellows in rage.